Learning progress 4/10/2015 - 11/10/2015

I've mentioned and attempted several times over these years to teach my daughter to learn academically.  A few times I'd managed to stick to a schedule for a few weeks, sometimes a few months- but in the end, life happens and I'd stop. Having high expectations causes deep frustrations in me. For almost 2 years, after she entered primary school,  I've stopped focusing on her academic skills and decided to lower my expectations to only having her not causing troubles in school and learning independent life skills.
          Once in a while,  I'd get her to do some written work, but never expecting much from her. I'd hold her hands and guided her to write - with the intention of introducing the knowledge,  while I explained in as simple way as possible the work being done. I think I've sort of given up getting her to write independently but still hoping that she'd learn something.
          Anyway, God's gentle nudge prompted me to start teaching her to write again. I almost gave up - the 2nd day. She had me crying and boiling inside throughout the day. Being pregnant, I tried hard to control my emotions but failed. I was so disappointed with myself.
          But somehow God decided that I should not give up now. Deep inside,  I felt something kept reminding me to see the readiness in my child. Yes! She does show signs of readiness in learning academically. Several times we 'caught' her peeking at her brother when he is doing his homework.  She'd come over to have a look when the brother complained about some difficult work. Whenever I asked her to come to the table for some work,  she'd willingly come. And whenever I 'helped' her with her maths addition - I'd sometimes feel her hands moving against mine as she attempted to write numbers - at times, the movement is correct.  Plus, she is showing reaction when I praised her for doing her 'homework'. After every exercise,  she'd look at me expectantly. If these aren't readiness - tell me what should I look for....
          On the 3rd day, I decided to try a different approach. I prepared a glass of milk for myself and acted as if I don't expect much from the lesson.  With a neutral tone, I had her trace her numbers 1 and 2 - sometimes just touching her little pinky to get her going. I praised her for good writing but quietly held her hands to correct the wrong ones.
          By the 4th day, she did it! She independently wrote her number 1, with enough strength and pencil control (written within the boxes).  Then we proceeded to number 2. She seemed to have gained more confidence and followed instructions to hold her pencil correctly with the other hand holding on to the sheet of paper, AND have her eyes on the paper while writing. After a few tracings,  she'd look at me for confirmation - we praised her profusely!  I try to build her confidence by having her trace the number 2 (I wrote with light coloured pencil colour) and purposely leaving a few boxes blank here and there.
         By the 6th day, she could write the number 2 without tracing. Isn't that something!!!
         What I have learned from this week is that every child is different.  I believe that she will reach her milestones in her own time. But - I will have to be attentive and alert to her signs of readiness to each milestone and work on them when the time comes. The Montessori concept emphasizes on respecting the child and to teach each child when they are ready.
         I pray that this time I will be more consistent to slowly get her to love learning academically and to continue to improve.


          I shouldn't neglect my son's progress too. For the past months,  he has discovered the fruits of hard work. In his eagerness to receive presents in kindergarten for being in the 1st to 4th position, he told me he wanted me to help him with his revisions prior to his mid year test. The beginning of the year, he got the 5th position and could only look on as his peers receive presents. 2 weeks before his tests, I did intensive revision with him ( while discovering his weaknesses in certain subjects :(, which I didn't really notice before) I created and printed worksheets after worksheets and drilled him with his spelling and surprisingly - he did not complain! He did shed a few tears, when he made mistakes in the worksheets and spelling - but he persevered. The end result - he got the 4th position. He was elated! We celebrated and bought him his favourite comics and made a big fuss of him (while reminding him how his hard work paid off)
          He couldn't stop talking about it that I took this opportunity to get him on track for a good study routine - preparing him for a more gruelling primary 1 life.
          Together with his sister - on the same day - I took the risk of tiring myself - I prepared daily schedule for him. He has the freedom to do whichever of the 4 to 5 items of reading/exercises I prepared for the day - in return for a sticker. He has to promise me not to ask or 'beg' for ipad or tv time during school days nor to complain about his workload. (More for my sanity) I do however, reduce his work when he looks tired.
          So, my son has been on daily schedule for a week too. He learned to quickly finish his work and he is free to read his comics and play. On Friday, he'll have 6 stickers (we start from Sunday) to enable his access to ipad games we downloaded (no wifi for videos). He can have the ipad until Saturday but he still has a few light items to do in his schedule like colouring and flash cards revision. (My time to relax :)  I am hoping that we can continue with this pace through the next 6 weeks of school. Then we'll have around 5 weeks of school holiday where I need to work on his weaker subjects. Hopefully by next year, I won't have difficulty getting him into the primary 1 rhythm without having to send him to tuition classes. Praying hard. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

       

     This day is a day to be remembered. In our 9 years of marriage, this is the first time hubby brought me to have a proper candlelit dinner for Valentine's day. During our courtship, we were conscious to save money for our wedding, that we always have simple celebration. The first year we got married, he bought me flowers and cute stuffed bear which prompted me to tell him to better save the money for more useful things. Yeah - I am that type of woman. I think flowers are nice when they are still fresh, but are a nuisance when they dried up and I can't display, use nor store them.
     I had a wonderful dinner (first time tasting cooked salmon) in a relaxed atmosphere. Wishing everyone have a memorable day with your Valentine. Cheers!

Mother's Day

Chinese New Year!

       Chinese New Year is just a few more days away. I've done all the preparations, leaving the hardest and the most troublesome on the list to be done on the last few days before the big day. I have valid reasons for this. The cleaning and decorating of the living room and kitchen, where the children frequents needs to be done while they are sleeping, on the New Year Eve.
        I remember during my childhood, I'd go to sleep after a very generous dinner with our extended family, and woke up to a beautiful living room. The couch would have a new dressing, all the simple red decorations were up on the walls, there will be a pink and red decorated tree in a corner and all the snacks suddenly appear out of nowhere in Tupperwares. It feels so magical every time.
         As I grew older, I became part of the 'magic'. With my younger brother in bed, I'll help with the tree decorations, changed the couch's casings, made decorations with red packets with my older brother, and opened the store bought packages of snacks to be put into Tupperwares. Due to my parents being working parents, everything is done in the last minute. I relish the time when the neighbours were playing firecrackers after the clock strikes 12 midnight while we were busy sweeping and mopping the floor, to get the last of the dust (due to the firecrackers). Once everything is quiet, we'd finish our final touches before going to bed. 
         And now, as a wife and mother, some of the 'traditions' seeped into my household too. I'll do all the cleaning (with the help of a cleaning maid, hihi) during the school holidays. Then hubby and I will find time here and there to go shopping without the children - for New Year clothes, decorations and snacks. The things will have to be kept away from their sight. When school opens in the beginning of the year, there's usually a few weeks left before Chinese New Year. During the weekends, I'll wash the new clothes and bedsheets. (though this year is an exception since it has been raining almost everyday), so, don't judge : coz I decided not to wash the sheets unless the weather promises to be nice for at least the whole day. (don't worry, the sheets have been washed during the holidays)
        With only a few days left, hubby and I are going to focus on cleaning up our work areas, store the children's toys (when they were not looking), and our yearly tradition : bake cakes after the reunion dinner, and when the children are asleep. This is one tradition I cherish. We get to spend some quality time together, baking and chatting. Hubby is the main chef here with me as the assistant. He'll bake at least 2- 3 cakes and exchanged half with my MIL. This way, we'll have around 6 homemade cakes to serve our visitors.
        It is a joy to be able to create 'magical' moments for my children. I hope this helps to create sweet memories for them. How about your family? Are there any traditions you would like to share?

First Christmas Party

My little boy went to his very first Christmas Party on Saturday, held by his new Kindergarten. He was not feeling well, but insisted on going - but he asked to go back, right after we arrived. He was overwhelmed by all 60-70 children and teachers. With everyone talking, younger children crying, the music and movements everywhere, he didn't know where to look. 

But he was happy to wait for these. In fact, it was the only thing he ate during the party.

And these too. After 2 rounds of games (passing the balloon, and musical chair), I suggested that it's time for him to go home earlier for his medicine. I nearly forgot about the  RM10 gifts exchange among the students. But my boy is not one to leave without his gifts.

Santa is being very generous.

He left with a bag of goodies. 

What's your wish from Santa this year? 

I did not want anything material. I only want my children to grow up healthy and learn the many virtues in Christ. And I wish that my daughter will be able to cope in her primary school, with loving, understanding and accepting teachers and friends. My son is going to a new kindergarten for Kindy 1. I hope that he will make new friends, learn new things and love his kindy years. Next year will be a challenging year for both hubby and me, in career and family challenges, I hope we will have the strength to face every challenges, and trust that God knows what He is doing. 

Yay! She did it!

Yup. I guess I'll never stop being amazed with the discovery how daily activities which seemed so simple and natural to us would present such difficulty to my dear daughter - but the moment she managed to master the skills - IT'S A CELEBRATION!

A quick update...

I have been lacking the motivation to write any post recently. But I still take photos of our lives around here. As I go through them and sort them into files, I thought, well, why not just make a quick pictorial post of of our month of July. It's gonna be August next week. 

Left to himself, Jay would draw and colour anything under the sun. His drawings are getting more complicated and with more details. His creations are always so colourful. Once, I bought 4 drawing books (I got tired of collecting his pieces of A4 papers and paper plates) - and he finished them up in 1 week. :0 Well, at least he's kept busy...

He's been asking for cute snacks to bring to school.

All credit to the daddy : )

Joy is certainly improving a lot. She has started to observe and try new food. Before, she wouldn't come near this nutritious dish (which my son called the 'black' soup). She actually finished her lunch and it's her first time with the beef too.

She had her first ice cream too. Before, she disliked anything cold. When we gave her an ice cream, she looked at me licking mine. She tried to smell and licked it.... and didn't want to give it back until it's all finished. She even used a spoon and dug into the ice cream cone...  :)

(yeah, I know ice cream has casein - she did get out of control a few days after - but at least she got to try)

Once, she even 'stole' a whole plate of fried prawns. MIL fried the prawns and left them on the table to cool. While she was busy with other dishes, Joy took off the dish cover and took the whole plate into the living room to enjoy. hmmmm.... Our first reaction was to laugh at this, though I know we should not encourage it.

We know that this girl will never let herself go starving. Whenever she is hungry, she would look everywhere in the kitchen for things to eat. She will even open the fridge at home or at MIL's house to find food. There are a few occasions where she was quiet and when we searched for her, she was sitting in a corner, enjoying crackers she got from the fridge.... 

We celebrated Joy's 6th birthday this month too! 

She chose the cake herself. - and can't wait to play with the butterfly.

Jay has been very busy too. He's practicing for singing competition. Actually, he begged his way into this competition. He told me that he wasn't given the chance to sing in school coz the teacher always let other classmates sing. When I met the teacher, I was told that the few classmates were preparing for singing competition and my son answered confidently 'Yes!' when the teacher asked if he wants to join the competition. He has to present 3 songs in 3 months for collective points. There's 2 more songs to practice for next month. 

We went to an old play area in town. I think both the children will outgrow this soon.

 

Another first for Joy. She has always been afraid to even climb and sit on one of these musical rides. This time, she attempted a few times and finally managed to sit on one. She did scream a little when the ride began moving and singing... but I held her tightly until it stopped. She is beaming happily when it's finally done. I think she knows it's another achievement for herself.

Another happy news is that Joy is going to Kindergarten 2 class now. She was in kindergarten 1 class until June - where the children are 1 or 2 years younger than her. They are often too 'helpful' and loved to help her to do everything.

 Now she is among her same age, most of them are not as willing to 'help' her (the teacher told them not to - though the innocent angels did ask, why - since the teacher always tell them to help each other... hmmm... I'm glad I don't have to answer to those questions)

Well, the point is, since there's no one to help her, she began doing things for herself. She is starting to write (though poorly), but it's a good start. Her teachers commented that she is imitating, observing others and trying things on her own... plus, she is speaking more in school. (though her golden voice can only be heard only when prompted). Praise The Lord!

7 years and counting...

We started off the month of June with our 7th wedding anniversary. We had a short getaway for a few hours just to enjoy each others' company.

We went to the cinema. 

Enjoyed a simple, quiet meal together.

and

A candle lit table makes all the difference. :)

2013 - May #8

More improvements for Joy :

Watching Nemo together with little brother.

Colouring practice.

I am so proud of her. She wrote the letter 'C' by herself. 

Her holiday tutor discovered that she is actually very interested and concentrated 

when she is given marker pen or coloured ink pen to trace or write.  

She even traced her own name - all by herself! 

But when given a pencil - she refused to write. Perhaps it's the colour? 

The beach in our backyard... with cloud dough

I am being rather adventurous. I've always wanted to do more sensory activities with my kids. But the very thought of the mess puts me off. Well, I finally gone and prepared some cloud dough for them. It's so easy to make and is much cheaper and more convenient than going to a beach.

Jay dug in right away. I asked him to search for alphabets I buried.

Joy was reluctant at first. She saw a flower she wanted, but she used her pointer to try to get it. When she saw that the sand (dough) can be patted hard, she got brave. - she patted for awhile before digging with her fingers... :)

I think they both enjoyed it. That makes everything worth it. 

Vanity

We noticed more improvements in our daughter in the past few weeks. One of it is that she has shown definite preference in her clothes. - She prefers sleeveless! Actually she has lots of shirts and dresses. (I still haven't got over my guilt for wanting to save money and not buying her girly clothes when she was still a baby. I only bought unisex clothes - until I have another baby boy - my reason being that babies outgrew the clothes so quickly) Now that she is older, I clothe her like a princess (err... most of the time. as far as my bank permits)

Anyway, the thing is, from quietly observing her, her behaviour tells me that she is conscious of her appearance. Every morning (weekend) she would dig her own clothes from her basket. (we haven't got her a proper chest of drawers yet). Her choice of dress or shirt is always a sleeveless. Sometimes she would continue to dig to find the matching leggings or pants. - but usually she is content with just the sleeveless. At one time, I tried to get her to change into a long sleeve (a pretty blouse she sometimes wears to bed) before she goes for her piano lesson. She lets me change, but later she took it off. When I tried to persuade her to wear other shirts with sleeve, she took every shirt from my hand and threw them back in her basket. When I showed her another sleeveless shirt, she quickly nods her head. Phew!!! I almost overturned the whole basket! 

And this morning, she changed her pajamas for a pair of shorts and asked me to help her wear her favourite dress. (sleeveless of course). And I find her admiring herself (swinging like a little lady) in front of our glass door in the living room. (erm.. she did this for almost every few minutes, until I took my phone and snapped her photo...) I guess she is conscious of me noticing her. I wonder when she will know that taking photos of herself is another way of admiring herself.... hi hi hi... I hope I am not promoting vanity to her. 

Ohh.... I am glad to notice that she definitely knows the difference between day clothes and night clothes. The long sleeves are for bed.... hi hi hi. 

The brighter side of things....

I promised myself that I must consciously remind myself to look at the bright side of things... especially when it's about my children. Especially if it's about my children. Well, this post is just to remind myself of some of the things we (hubby and I) found amusing and can be considered improvements in our girl.

Her kindergarten teacher has been telling me that my daughter has started to observe her friends' mouth when they are reading. Previously, she would cover her ears when they have read together sessions. But the teacher slowly had her listen and sometimes even to try to sound out the words. (not often, but she did look like she is trying - with her eyes looking with concentration at the teacher's mouth and her own lips moving). The teacher is also trying to teach her to sit on the floor with her legs crossed, instead of half kneeling, and sat on her own feet. Actually I have no problem with the way she sits, but according to the teacher, she might feel painful if she sits for a long time with her sitting position (I agree) and she is much taller than her friends when she sits that way too. She sits in the front row, and naturally will block her friends. (remember that her classmates were all younger than her). Well, what I am trying to say is, my daughter really attempted to learn how to sit like her friends. The teacher is very pleased with her attempts to position her legs and all, that even though she has not been able to do it yet, the teacher is very confident that she only needs more time to practice. (I am so glad the teacher is so optimistic).

At home, we have been asking more of her. I'll ask her to go and get her own pajamas or day clothes. She will bring them to me and with minimal help, she will change her clothes and picked up her clothes to put in the laundry basket in the kitchen. While she is on her way to the kitchen, sometimes I would remind her to close the kitchen door, which she would do after she puts her clothes into the basket.

Joy is slowly getting used to climbing up and down the staircase again. (she seemed to forget this skill when she went to my parents' too often and she was not allowed to climb upstairs).

Her daddy often asked her to bring things to him. His handphone, her toys, and others. She is more willing to  get the things for him, and sometimes she even have to look for the things before bringing them to daddy. (we did not purposely put the things for her to find.)

My daughter has learnt (or is it natural for girls?) that by smiling sweetly, she could have the adults do things for her. When she wants to have snacks, she would get the container and hand it to an adult and smile sweetly with anticipation. Even when we require her to say something, sometimes she would just nod as answer and smiled. When we asked her to give us something that she is playing with, and she didn't feel like giving it to us, she would just smile sweetly and run away. - the power of a smile that I have yet to overcome. (most of the time we find it amusing that we would laugh and let her off)

hmmm.... there are more that I can't remember, but this list will do for now. Even typing these makes me feel better. Well, there's always a brighter side to things, if only you look hard for it.

CNY Highlights...

Phew!!! I am really glad that Chinese New Year is over. Tomorrow will mark the end of the celebration... and I am certainly glad it's over. Well, I did enjoyed the few days break from work to be with family, but the kids have been sick, and we had a hard time getting them to drink lots of plain water (when there's other more inviting juices around) and to get their hands off the snacks (especially when there are guests). This time, little Joy had ulcers (thank God it's not anything more serious) in her mouth, that she could not and is very careful with what she puts in her mouth. The problem is - she is always hungry. She rejects her usual Brown rice milk, and takes to chrysanthemum tea. She even rejects her favourite chicken soup and the chicken meat. Luckily it only lasts 2 days, with all the whining and crying when she is hungry but dare not eat, for fear of the pain. (the ulcers are at the right side of her lips. we can only carefully feed her from the left side, which is very difficult).

On the third day, when the ulcers are better, she rejects all nutritious food - and only takes snacks - the chips and anything crunchy. Gosh, its hard to get her or the brother off those food when there's guests around. I can only be thankful she is willing to try the cakes. At least its better than the chips. - and she lost weight. Her small face is even smaller. Not to mention her already skinny body. Sigh....

Anyway... there are some rare moments we enjoyed as family. This year, I was very determined to get nice photos my children together. I had to follow little Joy everywhere and try to get her to look at the camera. Well, I did get some nice, memorable photos.

hi hi... the only time of the year when my living room is in tip top condition.

Say cheese..... hubby prepared 4 types of cheese cakes this year.
Hooray for a husband who bakes. I am only the assistant, but phew,
it was like a battle against time, as we started after the kids were asleep,.
We finished 3 types in less than 4 hours that night. Hubby made another one
in the morning, with the son watching and 'helping'.
(he was begging to help)

Little Jay resurrected his bird's house. We made this together
after he watched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse where Goofy
made a bird house for little Redbird. - oh, and he learnt
a few new vocabulary too.

Can you see the butterfly among the greens?  Jay spotted it
and begged me to take photos of it :)

Common scenario every Eve of CNY where hubby will
play fireworks outside, and the kids watching from inside.
Warms my heart as I watched little brother telling and pulling
sister to watch the fireworks together - and there's
no resistance from sister too. :)

Ermmmm.... Our only table activity for CNY. I had these in store for
a long time, and it seemed like the appropriate time to use them.

From Jay.

From Joy.

Wanna see Joy in action? This is common scenario now.
I just love to see her planning in action.
She saw a soft toy on top of the shelf. She goes to take a stool.

On her way...

Yup... that's it...

Reach up....

Got it!

Oh... my little boy is 4 this year. He has been waiting and telling everyone.
And super excited. We bought him a train cake.
(he has been telling us for months that he wanted a Train cake)

Hubby and I got a few hours to ourselves to celebrate Valentine's day..

I bought lots of these fun stencils for Jay's birthday. But he was more interested
in the trains he got from hubby and grandparents.
Well... I'm waiting to see when he'll get to these... one day.

# I just had to add this in. My in-laws wanted to have a family photo taken in a studio. Wow... My dear daughter really gave the photographer and his assistants a hard time. She refused to look at the camera, and kept laughing and climbing all over the place. Luckily the photographer was very patient and kept all of us saying 'five, six, seven" (in chinese) over and over again, while keeping our pose... so that he could snap the perfect time whenever the little girl looks at the camera. Yay! He did manage to snap a few fun and happy photos of us. - we could never have the serious, formal photos. But the happy, smiling and laughing faces in the photos are all worth the trouble and the time.